


Drowning

by Louissa



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Bruce Being a good dad, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Other, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 08:36:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15882456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Louissa/pseuds/Louissa
Summary: Tim hasn't checked in in a month, Bruce decides to pay him a visit.





	Drowning

Tim was sprawled on his couch, he was curled up under several blankets watching an old movie. He’d been trying to sleep after patrol but couldn’t switch his brain off, there were no cases that he wanted to work on so a movie it was. Tim was well aware of the thousands of texts everyone had been sending. He just chose to ignore them.

It was dark in the apartment, the young vigilante untangled himself from the blankets surrounding him and shuffled into the his bedroom. Checking his phone he noticed that there were messages from Dick, sighing he turned his phone off throwing it somewhere in the room. He didn’t want to talk to anyone, at the time all he wanted was to be alone. 

Sighing softly Tim pulled his hoodie off and threw it into the pile of discarded clothes, he really did need to do some sort of washing. While pulling back the sheets Tim kicked his superman slippers off and crawled into bed, the moment his head hit the pillow he was out. 

\- 

It had been a whole month since Tim last checked in at the cave, normally he would visit once or twice a week. Bruce had been trying to track him on patrols but he wasn’t following his usual route, no one had seen Tim the entire month. Bruce had left him a message once a week asking him to check in, when he got nothing back he decided to pay him a visit. Bruce was fully aware that Tim could take care of himself, but he just had to be sure that he was okay. He couldn’t loose another Robin.

Bruce had tracked Tim to a house that he wasn’t aware of, it was on the outskirts of Gotham. The apartment building he’d been led to was on the rougher side of Gotham, it drew no attention to itself and was a perfect place for a vigilante to hide. Sighing to himself Bruce entered the building in search of his son. 

Normally Bruce would’ve knocked before entering, however these aren’t normal circumstances. He climbed through Tim’s bedroom window with ease, landing without a sound he closed the window and drew the curtains. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room he saw a small lump buried under the covers, it was Tim. 

A soft whimper broke the silence, Bruce’s eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the boy toss and turn in his sleep. 

“Tim..” 

He gently pulled the covers back hoping that the cool night air would jolt him awake, instead Tim cried out in his sleep as if he was in pain. 

“Tim wake up.” 

Bruce’s hand was resting lightly on Tim’s shoulder, the youngers breathing had become laboured as he flinched away from the touch. 

“Timothy, you have to wake up, it’s only a nightmare.” 

As Tim thrashed slightly under him Bruce took matters into his own hands shaking the boy awake. 

\- 

He felt like he had been running for hours now, his legs felt like they were on fire. 

“Tim..” 

There was some one on top of him now, he couldn’t manage to fight them off no matter how much he screamed. 

“Tim wake up.” 

Tim was underwater, his lungs screaming for air as he was dragged under by some invisible force.

“Timothy you have to wake up, it’s only a nightmare.” 

\- 

Tim woke up with a start, the feeling of a hand on his shoulder caused him to panic. His hand gripped down on Bruce’s wrist, finally his eyes flickered up to see his adoptive father standing above him. His breath hitched in his throat and suddenly he couldn’t breathe, the grip on Bruce’s hand lessened but he didn’t let go. He felt Bruce’s free hand resting on his back rubbing gently urging Tim to breathe. 

“I’ve got you Tim, you’re okay. Just take a deep breath for me.” 

Bruce had somehow managed to manoeuvre Tim so that he was sitting on his lap, Tim’s hand was still clinging to Bruce’s wrist as he finally took in a breath. From that moment it all came crashing down, Tim sobbed into Bruce’s chest not caring if the tears ruined his fathers shirt. 

“I’ve got you, no ones going to hurt you while I’m here.”

That was a promise Bruce intended to keep.


End file.
